Borne of our abiding friendship with Belgium’s La Brasserie de Blaugies, Pierre-Alex and Kevin Carlier brewed with us here in June of 2013. The resulting beer—brewed with hops from Mons, Belgium, and 30% raw organic buckwheat; fermented in both oak barrels and stainless steel; and aged for many months in those same barrels—is among the finest farmhouse ales we’ve ever produced. Vibrant, lively and sophisticated, its bracing tartness belies its elegant wine-like profile. We were honored to have brewed with Pierre-Alex and Kevin; we are delighted to share it with you.

Reviews by bahnfire:

More User Reviews:

Appearance is unfiltered, pastel light gold, small one ginger white head that retains quite well. Sticky froth residue is left on the sides of the glass, not as much as their non-barrel aged offerings but plentiful nonetheless.

Aroma is a crazy balanced mix of wine barrel, funky farmhouse yeast, and fruity esters. Where Fermier is super citrus and Cellarman had a tropical, spicy kick, this retains a more balanced aroma. Not necessarily better but fabulous like the formers. Lime, lemon peel, rustic wheat, white wine, faint banana, and a little tart nectarine.

The taste reveals a thing of beauty. Plenty of lemon tang, lime, and fruity white wine intermingle with a crisp wheat character, sourdough, oak, vanilla, and plantain. It's a crisp flavor that cleans out on the finish quite nice and makes you want to drink more and more. So damn drinkable. As it warms a slight funk also starts to shine through.

This here is a knockout of a beer. I love that the lacto presence is kept in check allowing some of the other flavors shine through that you might otherwise miss by an elevated tartness. Don't get me wrong, there is plenty of acidity for a saison but it's so well balanced that it's not one of the main focuses. With breweries left and right making tart saisons I feel like some (Side Project for example) could tone down those PH levels (or maybe I should say tone up.) I have enjoyed the Side Projects immensely but the saisons I've noticed can be aggressively tart. Let's leave that for the sour/wild category. If I were to rate this among Fermier and Cellarman, two very similar other beers, this would likely land in between the two. With Cellarman being the favorite. But this is right there with it in all honesty.

Smell: Loads of bretty funk, vinous tartness. A sweet, citrus character to the tartness as well, and a . This smells ridiculously amazing, one of the best saison’s I've ever smelled.

Taste: If possible, even better than the smell. Lots of sweet fruity, juicy brett character, citrus tartness mixing in with vinous complexity. Almost like a clementine. The finish is long and incredibly oaky, with a vanilla character that lasts forever. This is right up there with Fermier as far as saisons go.

Mouthfeel: Prickly yet smooth. Dry, and exactly what I want in a Saison. Fantastic.

Overall: As close to perfect a Saison as I can imagine, knowing that Fermier exists. Amazing, as always.

Poured from a 750 mL bottle into a stemmed glass. Served at cellar temperature. This was bottled in 11/2013.

Appearance: Pours a hazy peach/light amber color and gives a big, fluffy head of a couple fingers that fades slowly, leaving lacing all the way down. The bottle gushed just a tad upon opening, but I didn't lose much at all. Pretty looking beer.

Incredibly balanced beer. wonderful sweetness, oak barrel, and tartness. Creamy mouth feel. I would drink this everyday if I had the opportunity. The best Hill Farm saison I've ever had including Flora. Seek this one out.

A: Pours a .75 finger head into my treehouse tulip with good carbonation, great legs and really really nice lacing. Hazy golden sunrise. Nice full color/body, not looking too light. Now that I've had a few sips and am looking at the glass, this is ridiculous. The lacing is just amazing.

S: Very upfront sour lacto goodness. Saison notes in the background, nice spiciness, great overall character. Nice lemony notes. I really enjoy the way that the sour lacto smells meld together with typical saison notes.

T: Well now that is Tart!!! Nice almost chardonnay character in the finish. I'm having a hard time reviewing the taste here. This is very sessionable, very straightforward. I think it's incredible but it's also...not sure what. I think I just wasn't expecting a beer to be this sour and also this sessionable. It's great; I want to drink a lot more. I could drink this entire 750 by myself whereas normally with a sour I'd be hard pressed to get through one. Take that for what it's worth. A great introductory beer to the style?

M: It would be easier to rate this beer if we knew the abv. Really hard to say.

O: Pretty damn delicious. Looks and smells great, tastes superb but almost falls short because it is so sessionable. I was expecting this to be a lot more sour. Would definitely drink again [and will because I have more] but I would not buy this again for the price point, not even close.